Unit 15 Lesson 2: The Presidencies of Bush and Obama Flashcards
When Bush took office, he brought with him an economic principle introduced under Republican president Ronald Reagan in the 1980s—
supply-side economics
Why did Bush do supply side ecnomics
Bush and his colleagues wanted to grow business and reduce government spending. They supported public services such as military defense but wanted to cut support for services such as social welfare and environmental protection.
supply-side economics
this theory suggests that the best way to grow the economy is by cutting taxes. The idea is that businesses will have more money to invest and pay workers, and consumers will have more money to spend on goods.
Bush’s tax cuts
In 2001, the Republican Party held the White House and controlled Congress, so they promptly pushed through a $1.35 trillion tax cut. Two years later, Bush signed off on another tax cut that extended and increased cuts, especially on income from investments.
Bush’s tax policy caused great controversy. Why?
. Even though most people saw reduced taxes, those with the highest incomes got the biggest cuts. Critics on the left claimed that the rich were getting richer while the middle and lower classes paid too much relative to their incomes. The tax cuts, they charged, only widened an already big income and wealth gap.
Critics farther to the right worried that a huge tax cut would undo efforts to “balance the budget.” Why?
To balance a budget you must avoid spending more than you earn, thus canceling out your debt. But cutting taxes reduces the amount of money the federal government earns in a year. So to balance the budget and reduce the debt, the federal government needed to cut spending because it would be collecting less money in taxes.
Example of the effect of Bush’s tax cuts
For example, in 2005, the chief executive of Walmart earned $15 million—about 950 times what the company’s average sales worker made. Left with a smaller share of the economic pie, average workers had fewer resources to pay for goods and services, including a higher education that might have helped them secure higher-paying jobs.
During Bush’s presidency, the federal debt doubled. What does that suggest about public spending during the Bush years?
Since the federal debt doubled and taxes were lower, the federal government must not have cut spending. The government still must have been spending a great deal of money on public services.
In 2003, Bush approved federal funding for “faith-based,” or religious, charities. Why
The types of work done by such groups varies—from providing food and other direct aid to people in need to setting up charter schools, or schools that received federal funding while being run by private groups.
The Bush administration also encouraged states to fund school vouchers. Why
These vouchers enabled parents to pay to move their children from poorly performing public schools to better-performing private schools.
Why did the federal budget go up during Bush years
The national debt went up during the Bush years not only due to tax cuts but also due to increased spending on public services. Much of that spending went to homeland security and fighting wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. A great deal also went to social programs.
“School choice” policies such as vouchers and charter schools gave parents and students more options. In 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court settled Zelmanv.Simmons-Harris.
A majority ruled that funding for vouchers does not violate constitutional law.
To improve student performance, the Bush administration also proposed a set of reforms that became the
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, passed by Congress and signed by Bush in January 2002.
Support for charter schools and vouchers formed part of a broader Bush goal—closing the “education gap.”
For years, some researchers had claimed that American students were falling behind students in other countries.
What did the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) do
This law set up a system of testing to measure student performance in reading and math. A school’s federal funding depended on the school’s participation. Schools judged to have consistently poor performance faced federal intervention, such as changes in curricula and teachers.
In the early 2000s, anti-immigrant feelings were on the rise. How did Bush feel about immigrations
Many officials called for tighter restrictions on immigration, especially along the nation’s southwestern border with Mexico. Although Bush and other leaders spoke highly of immigrants’ contributions, they cautioned against illegal immigration. They wanted to reduce the number of undocumented immigrants living in the country.
What did Bush do about immigration
In 2002, Bush signed laws that increased funding for immigration enforcement and moved immigration agencies under the Department of Homeland Security. Congress also enacted stricter identification requirements.
A few years later, the House of Representatives ignited fierce debate by approving a bill to make undocumented status a felony. The proposed law also made it illegal to hire or knowingly aid undocumented immigrants. Later in 2006, Congress scrapped the original Senate and House bills and instead passed a law providing for construction of a
700-mile long fence along the southwestern border and a massive buildup of the U.S. Border Patrol.
Hurricane Katrina
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), an executive department led by a Bush appointee, suffered fierce public criticism for a slow and inadequate emergency response.
The United States had suffered a small economic downturn, or recession, in 2001, caused in large part by the collapse of the internet technology bubble. Elaboarte on the cuase
In the years before 2000, investment in computer and other tech companies surged. This created a false sense of prosperity that collapsed after 2000. The stock market dropped, and millions of people lost their jobs, particularly in the manufacturing sector. Several major energy, financial, and telecommunications companies were exposed for fraudulent and corrupt practices.
In 2008 and 2009, four million Americans were out of work. Many lost their homes and businesses. What did the governemnt do about that
Congress and the Bush administration responded to the crisis with emergency loans to the banking and automotive industries.
Congress and the Bush administration responded to the crisis with emergency loans to the banking and automotive industries. How did people react to hsi
Supporters saw the loans as essential to stabilize the economy; critics viewed the loans as “bailouts” that did nothing to help the people most hurt.
Write a summary of the key causes of the recession. How did the Great Recession build on conditions in the earlier 2001 recession?
The Great Recession resulted from the collapse of the housing market. Economic growth had already begun to slow as a result of the earlier 2001 recession. Many people saw slow wage growth even as the cost of goods increased. Rather than reducing spending, they went into greater debt. They took out mortgages that they couldn’t afford while increasing other credit debt. Meanwhile, mortgage lenders sold the loans to investment groups even though they knew borrowers were unlikely to repay them. Home prices went up, but when the borrowers failed to repay loans, the market crashed. People couldn’t pay their loans, and banks couldn’t sell homes. As people lost their homes, they found themselves without money to pay for other goods and services. Various industries suffered, leading to job losses. As more people were unable to repay various types of debts, banks and financial companies also suffered.
Why did Obama have a good chance of winning
Many Americans were tired of ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. They also felt frustrated with the Bush administration’s response to Hurricane Katrina. The Great Recession had tarnished both Bush and his political party. Obama’s opponent, Arizona senator John McCain, faced an uphill battle: Obama presented a fresh young face and promised to deliver “hope and change.” Despite years of service and experience, McCain was too closely tied to the previous administration. He represented the Republican Party, which had overseen years of war and now saw an economic collapse.
Ultimately, Obama proved more successful in communicating his goals to the public. His campaign also attracted many new voters, particularly among young people and marginalized groups.
